Eugene Joseph Goodreault (July 31, 1918 – July 13, 2010) was an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
player. He played at the
end
End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to:
End
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*In sports and games
**End (gridiron footbal ...
position for
Boston College from 1938 to 1940 and was selected as a consensus first-team All-American in 1940. He was inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame in 1982.
Early years
Born in 1918, Goodreault attended
Haverhill High School
Haverhill High School (HHS) is a public high school in Haverhill, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Haverhill Public Schools district and is open enrollment.
History
At least three buildings have served as Haverhill High School. ...
in
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
where he was known as "Goo-Goo" Goodreault and was a member of the football, baseball and track teams.
Boston College
Goodreault enrolled at
Boston College in 1937. The school's publicity director,
Billy Sullivan (later owner of the
New England Patriots) befriended Goodreault and helped him to obtain therapy to overcome a speech impediment.
[
As a member of Boston College's football team, Goodreault was five feet, ten inches tall and weighed 180 pounds.][ His profile at the College Football Hall of Fame described him as follows: "Fast, powerful and alert, Gene Goodreault was outstanding as a pass-catcher and play-maker blocker on offense and as a play-blaster, destructive tackler on defense."][ In 1939, Goodreault's junior year, ]Frank Leahy
Francis William Leahy (August 27, 1908 – June 21, 1973) was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He served as the head football coach at Boston College from 1939 to 1940 and at ...
was hired as the head of the Boston College Eagles football team. Goodreault helped lead the Eagles to a 9-2 record and the school's first bowl game, and appearance in the 1940 Cotton Bowl. At the end of the 1939 season, Goodreault received All-East honors and was also the first recipient of the George H. "Bulger" Lowe Trophy in 1940 as the outstanding football player in New England.
As a senior, Goodreault was a member of the 1940 Boston College team that compiled an undefeated record of 11-0, outscored opponents 320–52, recorded six shutouts, and defeated No. 4 Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
in the 1941 Sugar Bowl
The 1941 Sugar Bowl featured the fourth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers and the fifth-ranked Boston College Eagles, both with records of 10–0 and high-scoring It was played on Wednesday, January 1, 1941, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans,
In the ...
. After the season, Goodreault was selected as a consensus player on the 1940 College Football All-America Team
The 1940 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1940. The nine selectors recognized by the ...
. He received first-team honors from, among others, the United Press
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20t ...
, the International News Service
The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909. , the Central Press Association, and ''Collier's Weekly
''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Colli ...
'' (selected by Grantland Rice
Henry Grantland "Granny" Rice (November 1, 1880July 13, 1954) was an early 20th-century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio.
Early years
Rice wa ...
).
Later years
Goodreault was selected in the second round (15th overall pick) in the 1941 NFL Draft
The 1941 National Football League Draft was held on December 10, 1940, at the Willard Hotel in Washington D.C. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Chicago Bears selected halfback Tom Harmon.
Player selections
Round 1
Round 2
R ...
,United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
and operated a wool brokerage business in Massachusetts after the war. He lived in Haverhill until 2004.[
Goodreault was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1982.]Alumni Stadium
Alumni Stadium is a football stadium located on the lower campus of Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, approximately west of downtown Boston. It is the home of the Boston College Eagles. Its present seating capacity is 44,500. Offic ...
.[
Goodreault moved to California in 2004. He died from cancer in 2010 at age 91 in ]Orinda, California
Orinda is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city's population as of the 2020 census is estimated at 19,514 residents.
History
Orinda is located within four Mexican land grants: Rancho Laguna de los Palos Colorados ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodreault, Gene
1918 births
2010 deaths
All-American college football players
American football ends
Boston College Eagles football players
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Sportspeople from Haverhill, Massachusetts
Players of American football from Essex County, Massachusetts
United States Navy personnel of World War II
Deaths from cancer in California